On the eve of the meeting of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Reverend Philip Potter, former head of the organisation, spoke to Omayma Abdel-Latif about social activism in the aftermath of 11 September For Reverend Philip Potter, working for justice and human development is inseparable from living according to his faith. The 81-year-old Jamaican former secretary- general of the World Council of Churches (WCC) is a humanist who believes in the possibility of a world in which people from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds live side by side in harmony. "Whatever our particular faith commitments are, we have a commitment towards each other as human beings and this should reign supreme," Potter told Al-Ahram Weekly in a telephone interview on the eve of this week's meeting of the Central Committee of the WCC, an organisation made up of some 300 Protestant churches from around the world. This vision might sound Utopian in a post 11 September world in which civilisations and religions are said to be pitted against one another. Nonetheless, Potter's belief in the potential for a more peaceful world remains strong. "The problem of our time is that our world has become so small that we are on each other's doorsteps; the pressure is on with respect to how we are going to deal with each other." "It is easy to say that all we have to do is to be more conscientious as Christians and Muslims and show our light to the world. But that is not enough. I am always scared when things are put in terms of one religion being pitted against another because no one can claim superiority in this respect." Potter thinks that the most important challenge before humanity is what he described as "the acceleration of history". "Things are happening so fast; this calls for constant vigilance and also for inter-relations between countries and people." In the months that followed the 11 September attacks, the rhetoric from Washington was filled with biblical allusions -- something that has raised Potter's ire. "As Christians, we should not go into this rhetoric at all. We should not think that this kind of showing off your power or parading your weakness is what is important. It is unfortunate that some of those powerful people claim to have a Christian background, but this is all the more reason why we -- as Christians -- should challenge them." One such group is perhaps the Christian Zionist movement in the United States which is said to have considerable influence with the current US administration, particularly in relation to the Middle East conflict since the events of last September. Though Potter was reluctant to talk about the movement, he would say that they are "on the extreme fringe of conservative Christians, and they spend their energies trying to convert Jews and say the Jews should accept Christ". Potter described such groups as more "noisy" than powerful. "They are a minority group in their support for Israel, but unfortunately they get a lot of press attention and coverage. This coverage should go to those who conduct solid work and help mobilise people." When Potter was asked to assess the influence such groups have in the United States, he responded, "Certainly this administration has a certain line of thought, but there will always be pressure groups to publicly challenge those in government out of conviction. Added to that, they also mean to challenge the people to take a stand." He continued, "these groups may have to be constantly challenged in the churches and in their communities. There should never be a stop to that." "It is easy to say that all we have to do is to be more conscientious as Christians and Muslims and show our light to the world. But that is not enough. I am always scared when things are put in terms of one religion being pitted against another because no one can claim superiority in this respect" "Governments are sensitive to what large numbers of people say, and when people sit back and don't do anything and just leave it to few voices and lobby groups to dictate their agendas, they only have themselves to blame when disasters happen" "I don't think there is such a thing as a 'clash of civilisations'... In the so-called Christian West we have had many major ideological upheavals, but behind those movements and clashes were the problems of relations between groups and classes. We have got to expose the realities behind such simplistic 'for or against' types of theories" Potter, who first began working on the international stage in the 1960s when he presided over the World Student Christian Federation for eight years, believes that 'voices of reason' have not been given much of a platform since 11 September because people, by and large, have stopped challenging their own governments, particularly in Western societies. "Governments are sensitive to what large numbers of people say, and when people sit back and don't do anything and just leave it to few voices and lobby groups to dictate their agendas, they only have themselves to blame when disasters happen." Mobilising the general public was perhaps Potter's chief priority during his tenure as head of the WCC which lasted from 1972-83. His life- long work has been to give Protestant churches a voice in the international arena. This goal was actualised through the WCC's Commission of the Churches in International Affairs (CCIA) which has been active in assisting refugees, providing aid and mediating between conflicting parties in various locations around the world. "What is really important now is the mobilisation of public opinion. In the West, people don't want to give much thought to what is going on, but we have to mobilise them. After all, these governments are not made up of people who put themselves there, they are made up of elected people and we, those who elected them, have a responsibility to them. People are not being politically responsible, and this is dangerous." The rise of the anti-globalisation movement has helped Potter to retain his optimism. "It pleases me to see the number of young people involved in the anti-globalisation movement and anti-war movement on the rise. They have a simple message: we want to live in one world together and we will not accept this 'big stick' style [of governance] in any form it takes." But are those voices being listened to? "They are not voices in the wilderness," insisted Potter, "The powers that be may pretend not to hear them, or may make cynical remarks about them, but these movements are enabling more and more people to find a voice and are helping them to get away from the lack of interest in politics or fear of swimming against the current." Perhaps the conflict that was impacted on most by such political apathy in Western societies was the Arab-Israeli conflict. Potter, however doesn't believe that the entire world is complacent about what is happening in Palestine. "Many people are trying to do something. It is a question of what is to be done and by whom. If you take the situation in the Middle East, it is a tragic situation, in the sense that Israel came about because a lot of people were concerned about the fate of the Jewish people. Now there is equal concern about the Arab people." The WCC has, in fact, shown interest in the conflict from early on. Since its inception in 1948, the WCC has worked with Palestinian refugees. "We have long had a concern for the Middle East -- long before people bothered about the region -- for the simple reason that the three monotheistic faiths come from the same area, have a common heritage and we share common belief in one god." With respect to the Palestinian situation, Potter said, "These concerns are complicated by economic and political factors, the role of the West in the Middle East and, of course, the question of oil. It is a complicated situation which has to be dealt with." But some critics, however, would argue that while the WCC has done a lot of talking about conflicts, its actions have been few and they have had little impact. "The WCC is like any other NGO", he said, "it doesn't have the power to force things to happen. It all depends on the parties involved, and in the Middle East you have to work on both parties. They have to come together and find ways of living together. The WCC has been helpful in terms of its involvement with churches in refugee work and in human development." Potter sites recent international complacency towards the atrocities in Palestine firmly within the context of the post-11 September political shift. "Since 11 September everybody has been focusing on a new type of confrontation which is taking place. In my view, there are two elements in that; one of them is the whole business of arms and the control of arms and the ways in which people can use arms in terms of showing their power or expressing their frustration. Of course the most powerful -- with all of their resources -- are not setting an example," he said. "In the final analysis, 11 September was a form of radical protest against forms of injustices and it sort of exposed things. The superpower has reacted to the violence which took place. A year on, we have to ask ourselves what was behind it and are we going to tackle what was behind it. I am not just talking about Americans, but all of us and this is the task ahead of us whether Muslim or Christian," he said. Potter thinks that understanding 11 September requires putting it in a socioeconomic, political and cultural context. "Many things which have happened on 11 September have behind them the anger and frustration caused by socioeconomic circumstances that have been ignored for long. We have the task of reminding those who show off their power that if you try to destroy other people's resources, culture and faith you destroy yourself in the process; history has shown us that. Unfortunately we live in a situation where people insist on having more than others, but this needs to be constantly challenged." One way to challenge the existing situation is through an inter-faith dialogue between Islam and Christianity. Pessimists, however, would hold the view that despite the huge efforts put into such dialogue, the vilification of Islam and Muslims since 11 September reveals such efforts to have failed. Potter explained that the dialogue between the two faiths is an ongoing one. This vilification, he said, has been mainly due to the media's handling of the 11 September attacks. "This coverage has obscured the main issues involved, and putting the blame on Islam was totally unfair. It certainly is a cause for a good deal of hard soul-searching in the United States. Again, it is the minority that captures the attention of the media and makes life difficult for other Muslims, similar to the way that fringe extremists make things difficult for me as a Christian. [This situation] certainly points out to the necessity of intensifying dialogue." Some have seen 11 September as affirming the relevance of the so-called clash of civilisations theory. Where does Potter stand on this matter? "I don't think there is such a thing as a 'clash of civilisations'... In the so-called Christian West we have had many major ideological upheavals, but behind those movements and clashes were the problems of relations between groups and classes. We have got to expose the realities behind such simplistic 'for or against' types of theories." "What we should contemplate is how we in this age can move in a constructive humanistic way to be able to express ourselves and to act in ways which are humanly fulfiling."
